Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Since they seemed popular, a few more of my mini film reviews from the weekend. I went a bit overboard on the movies, though I think I should begin to mark which films I watched because of Gabby and which I chose myself. This weekend, it was mainly Gabby who was making the selection.

Rule of thumb: if it involves horror or long range target shooting, you can be sure it's not one of mine.

Dreamcatcher – a somewhat under-rated adaptation of a Stephen King novel uses horror in a snowy landscape to good effect and is only let down by Morgan Freeman’s fake eyebrows.1408 – An even better film adaptation of a Stephen King short story. John Cusack alone in a hotel room that plays his own nightmares against him. Excellent.The Contract – John Cusack again, with Morgan Freeman in Bruce Beresford’s low key thriller which is actually quite good apart from Cusack’s apparent faceliftSpiderman 3 – Somewhat bloated with enough story for two films, it begins heavy on the cheese but gets better as it becomes darker. Toby McGuire has lost too much weight and the CGI has got worse with each film.Oceans 13 – one of the best heist movies in recent years and the best of the Oceans films, mainly due to the absence of people called Zeta Jones and the presence of people called Pacino.Every Which Way But Loose – can’t believe I loved it as a child, I now can’t get past the fact that Clint is playing redneck trailer trash. I could never get myself to like Sondra Locke.Year of the Dragon – from the days before actors had facelifts and when Mickey Rourke was considered a very promising actor, Cimino’s blistering story of cops fighting the Chinese gangs in New York. A bit heavy on the melodrama but good nonetheless.Sniper 2 – Perhaps one for the Tom Berenger completists only but a low budget thriller with better production values and acting than you usually find in low budget thrillers. Berenger is one of those actors who could (and should) have been bigger. He stole Platoon and steals this.

2 comments:

"One shot, two kills" - great line from the first Sniper film. The second not so good, though i love the bit where Sgt Barnes enters some Balkan weapons bunker and sights some WW2 German sniper rifle, his eyes lighting up.

i'm surprised that there aren't really any good sniper films out there, i guess because being a sniper is mainly about lying immobile in a bush for several days.